The Druid Grove

The ancient druids were considered the Scientists of their day. This forum is for the discussion of topics relating to Natural History, Science and Technology.

Forum rules
If you find a topic of interest and want to continue the discussion then start a new topic under The Hearthfire with a similar name and add a link back to the topic you want to continue.
To copy a link just copy the url on the top left of your browser and then put in your post, highlight it and press the url button.

The meteors are said to be the remnants of Phaethon, that is named after the relative of Helios.
Some see a connection to Lucifer, who as Phaethon did, fell in a blaze of light from heaven unto earth. The word lucifer, of course, had denoted Venus/Aphrodite, so Lucifer is the name of the Venus, when it is the morning star.

I love meteor showers but it requires a dark sky after midnight to really enjoy one. I remember observing and recording the Andromedid meteor shower in November one year. The Andromedids are a slow-rate shower of only a few meteors per hour. I took the time to draw a map of stars down to about magnitude 3.5 so I could use it to map the shower. No telescope required. You lay back in a lawn chair and when you see a meteor you draw a line on the map between where you see it begin and end. If you can record enough meteors it will result in a spokelike pattern called a radiant. This is the point of the sky where the shower originates. This is how the showers get their names. The Andromedids radiate from Andromeda and the Geminids from Gemini. These of course are constellations.

Binoculars make a good aid for fainter meteors and getting a good look at their trails. A flashlight with a red filter is essential to read and record on a map. Also a small table is useful. I had a fold out one that I could put over the lawn chair so all I would have to do is raise up a little to do my recording. Also a covering of some sort to protect the map from dew.

James E Parton
Bardic Course Graduate - Ovate Student
New Order of Druids

...and something to ease a sore neck the following day. Lots of light from the moon last night, but quite a few of the meteors were visibly impressive. Hoping to see more this evening. I think I'll have to lie on the sunbed tho.

I saw a pretty greenish meteor last night while coming home from work. A small lump of metal, stone or ice intering the Earth's atmosphere. It reminded me of the small iron meteorite at home on my desk. I also have stony meteorite too, complete with fusion crust.

James E Parton
Bardic Course Graduate - Ovate Student
New Order of Druids

We laid out for three hours with several blankets both under and covering us (it was FREEZING out there..!!)

We positioned ourselves under Orion and tried to look at Gemini but unfortunately we had a rather large stand of Fir and Birch trees in our way. We saw quite a few meteors streaking across the night sky and enjoyed every minute of it.

Unfortunately we are just too close to the city so the background lights really messed up the view. We did have the music of the trees as the winds rustled them around all night though so we weren't completely alone.

The longest one we saw was probably 3-5 seconds and lit up 30% of the sky as it went by. They were mostly East to West, but they came at us from all directions..... very kewl night..!!!